Digital Music Front

Posts Tagged ‘cables’

Tonight I got home for the first time after moving into my new place to find myself with an entire evening at home to myself. So I decided that being nearly April and me not having laid down a single beat all year, it was time to finally pull my finger out and work on some tunes. Before I could get started though I needed to tidy up my desk and plug everything in and arrange all my gear so I could work without any hassles – I’m the kind of person who hates working in a messy environment, and anyone who’s tried to get creative with a crowded or poorly laid out work space knows how much of a hinderance it can be.

So I’ve got my laptop on the desk. I plug in my external flatscreen to give me the extra screen real estate you need when you’re dealing with a million windows in a sequencer. Next the USB sound interface, then the midi controller, the external hard drive and mouse. Before I’ve even started I’ve got 5 things plugged into my computer and cables running everywhere – even the mouse which is wireless has to have a receiver plugged in. Add to that my speakers and the ADSL modem, and its a struggle to maintain any clear space on the desk, and my desk is pretty damn big.

It doesn’t stop there however, under the desk there is a rats nest of power cables. For every device on my desk, there are 2 which don’t require external power. the midi controller and sound module. Even the receiver for the mouse, which is also plugged in via USB, needs external power.

So after an hour or so of fighting with cables, I’m left wondering how much longer must we put up with this madness? Anyone who’s an electronic producer no doubt has experienced this same frustration, but these days its a problem for just about everyone. We’re constantly courted by companies trying to sell us more gadgets and more toys and now days if you can’t connect your gadget to someone else’s you’ve got no product. Our work spaces and out living rooms are being invaded by an army of electronic devices and their twisting, tangling tentacles are making the spaces behind our TV units and our desks not just a messy pain in the ass but also an electrical safety hazard. I wonder as electronics manufacturers crank out their products if they ever stop to consider just how much of a mess they are making of our lives – many will say their products are there to make life easier or improve productivity, but if you have to fuck around plugging in 5 or 6 different things into your computer before you can use it, are they really?

Perhaps the most frustrating thing of all is that there are a number of technologies out there which we could be taking advantage of right now to reduce cable clutter… but no one has quite got it right yet. Wireless mice that you have to plug in? Sorry go back to design 101 buddy. Xbox with wireless controllers? Great, but why do i still need to plug it into the TV when we have high definition TV’s with digital receivers in them? Why do any of my input devices for my still need cables when we have things like bluetooth?

C’mon Sony, C’mon Apple, Logitech, and Roland. Get with the program, Cables are so last century.